IITs Contemplating Over Single Entrance Test Format For Admissions

The IITs are reconsidering to opt for the old system of single entrance exam for admissions into IITs and NITs and other centrally funded technical institutes. The present examination for selecting candidates is a two-tier format which is proving to be "cumbersome" and "time consuming".

In a meeting held last Sunday, the JEE Apex Board has set up a committee to consider the proposal before it is placed in the IIT senate. The development was confirmed by IIT Bombay director Devang Khakhar.

The proposal for going back to the old format was considered, taking into account also the fact that it would help IITs to hold more counselling rounds as the premier technology institutes this year could only hold three rounds due to time constraints, said an IIT professor, who had been associated with counsellings in the past. The process of holding the two-tier entrance test also proved cumbersome and time consuming involving a lot of resources in the process, he said.

The two-tier format was introduced in 2012 by the then HRD Minister Kapil Sibal under an initiative to overhaul the examination system. The system was introduced as part of a proposal to conduct a single entrance test for admission to IITs, NITs and other centrally funded technical institutes. The move had met with stiff resistance by a section of IITs, led by IIT-Kanpur but they had to eventually acceded to the new system.

Under the two-tier format, the first stage is JEE Mains and the second stage JEE Advance. JEE Mains basically acted as a filter and those who cleared it appeared for the JEE Advance test for admission to IITs. The JEE Main acted as a gateway for those aspiring for a seat in NITs.

Now, with the fresh proposal for going back to the old format, students would only have to sit for a single test for admission to the IITs. The development came against the backdrop of NITs deciding to break away from the new system implemented in 2012. Now, admission to NITs would be entirely based on JEE Main scores as a government-appointed panel has recommend scrapping of the weightage given to marks obtained in board examinations.